Air Force’s MQ-9 Reaper fleet has dwindled, and the service is now looking to quickly fill the gaps

The U.S. Air Force is looking to quickly buy replacements for the approximately 24 MQ-9 Reapers lost in combat over Iran. However, since the MQ-9 is out of production, the branch is looking to purchase short-term replacements while a new drone platform can be developed.

In 2021, the U.S. Air Force had more than 300 MQ-9s in service, but because these drones were purpose-built for the uncontested airspaces of the Global War on Terror, the Air Force began retiring the oldest Block 1 Reapers soon thereafter.

The heavy use of these aircraft in Middle East operations since then has also resulted in heavy losses, including 12 against the Houthis.

But the Air Force’s problem is bigger than three dozen downed drones, and today, its operational MQ-9 fleet has dwindled to just 135 aircraft overall.

In response, this week, Air Force deputy chief of staff for plans and programs, Lt. Gen. David Tabor, told Congress the Air Force is now “looking at options to buy back as many MQ-9s as we can right now.”

However, the Air Force had previously told General Atomics that it would not be purchasing any more of the Block 5 MQ-9A Reapers it operates due, in large part, to their low airspeeds, lack of stealth, and general vulnerability in contested airspace. As a result, such, General Atomics shut down its production line last year.

So, now, the branch is looking for stopgap solutions to increase its Reaper numbers.

Options could include General Atomics building as many as five MQ-9As out of spare parts it still has. General Atomics also proposed rehabbing retired MQ-9s from the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group’s Boneyard, and while that does seem like a viable option, the most recent inventory released by the Boneyard, dated March 2025, did not include any MQ-9s.

One other option being considered is purchasing a number of newer MQ-9Bs, but these much larger and more capable aircraft don’t come cheap.

At around $30 million a piece, the MQ-9B’s wingspan is about 13 feet wider than the Reaper’s, giving it the ability to carry payloads that are 28% larger over much longer distances. While the Reaper can stay airborne for upwards of 27 hours and cover nearly 1,600 miles in some trims, the MQ-9B Sky Guardian can stay airborne for upwards of 40 hours and fly well over 5,700 miles.

While these temporary solutions are mulled over, the Air Force has also gotten the ball rolling on fielding a new, lower-cost replacement for the Reaper with a design that lends itself to rapid, high-volume production.

Further, Air Force officials have stated that they want to be able to use the MQ-9 replacement in a “more attritable way,” meaning they should be cheap enough to take risks with.

The Air Force’s stated minimum requirements for these new lower-cost Reaper replacements include a range of up to 932 miles, at least 20 hours of airborne endurance, and a “low-to-medium” acquisition cost based on the idea that these aircraft would only fly 100 missions in their service lives.

That low-to-medium cost range and relatively short service life all suggest a drone design that likely wouldn’t qualify as a “stealth aircraft,” but could nonetheless be a fair bit stealthier than the MQ-9, which wasn’t designed with low observability in mind.

Feature Image: A U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Reaper prepares to depart the Combat Readiness Training Center during Sentry South 26-2 in Gulfport, Mississippi, February 20, 2026. Sentry South 26-2 is a large force employment exercise focused on major combat operations and joint maritime opportunities in a contested or degraded operational environment. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Sgt. James Vaughan)

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